Definition of: butcher

(bch′ər) noun
1. One who slaughters animals or deals in meats for food.
2. A bloody or cruel murderer.
3. A vendor of candy, cigarettes, newspapers, etc., on trains.
4. In journalism, a copyreader.
—v.t.
1. To slaughter or dress (animals) for market.
2. To kill (people or game) barbarously or brutally.
3. Slang To ruin by bungling treatment; botch. See synonyms under KILL. [<OF bouchier man who slaughters bucks <boc buck, he-goat]
—butch′er·er noun